...makes it count at an age when most give up playing
DUBAI: Bilal Asif had to wait till he was 26 to make his first-class debut. And soon after he did, a false alarm went off over the offspinner’s action in only his second ODI, threatening to derail his Pakistan career even before it had finally started. Although his action was found to be clean, his ODI run halted after three games in 2015.
At 33, and over three years after he last played for Pakistan, Asif was handed his Test debut, at an age when most plan their retirement. And the man with a strong wrist, ability to produce copious turn and bounce, swept through the Australian batting to pull the first Test towards Pakistan on the third day.
Asif is the son of an electrician, and during a long and dull phase when it looked like cricket dreams would die soon, he had gone to Kuwait to help his father. On Tuesday, he sent shock waves through Australia just when Usman Khawaja (85) and Australia’s late debutant, Aaron Finch (62), with their 142-run opening stand seemed to be bringing parity to the game.
Asif captured 6/36 as Australia lost all 10 wickets for 60 runs. His first four wickets came off just 22 deliveries, wrecking the visitors. Hailing from a village near Sialkot, Asif took a while to play first-class cricket. And in his very second ODI, against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2015, he took 5/25 and scored 38 as opener. That effort though led to being reported for chucking, though biomechanical tests at the
ICC-AC- credited Chennai centre established his elbow flex was legal.
Lessons under former legspinner, Mushtaq Ahmed, came once he got back into the Pakistan set-up, mainly as back-up due to the chucking problems of Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez.
On Tuesday, he had a shaky start, but the man with a fine voice was soon on song. He got Shaun Marsh to nick a flighted delivery, Khawaja miscued a sweep and debutants Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne fell for nought. Aussie skipper Tim Paine was victim No 5 and counterpart Nathan Lyon the last. “I knew my chance would come, so I waited and thanks to God I have done myself proud. It’s a tremendous feeling.”